Linda Allen

Country of origin:

Type of music generally:

Status:

See also:

Comparisons:

Linda Allen has a beautiful voice, clear, expressive and evocative of Kate Wolf. Linda's songs are more in the traditional/contemporary vein of Kate Wolf's and Iris DeMent's oeuvre, rather than the more folk/pop or folkie style of two other contemporary folksingers: Dar Williams and Catie Curtis. (world@oz.net)

Covers/own material:

Own, occasional traditional songs covered

General comments:

"O Dwellers in the Dust, Awake and Sing for Joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the Earth will give birth to those long dead" (Isaiah 26:19). Linda Allen's melodic folk songs of loss, loneliness, melancholy, taking the less-traveled road, surviving and through friendships built along the way, even prospering, call out to the listener to awaken, and to reach for the stars! As Linda sings, "Our lives are lived like a flash across the sky." Search no further for wisdom, tempered with compassion, than in the 15 songs on "The Long Way Home." From the traditional lament, "Echo Song" to the anti-war "A Small Vase of Flowers" to the catchy and wry tune of "The Bargain," these are songs and singing that you won't soon forget. (world@oz.net)

Produced by:

Linda Allen

Comments:

Though these songs often are more didactic than I prefer my music, this album makes a strong contribution to women's music. It's an album of songs telling women's history and arguing equality and the importance of women's place in the world. My favourites are the songs about particular women—which, really, most of them are—that make their experiences come alive. It's delightful to hear songs in the voices of pioneer women, of Sojourner Truth (using her own words), of farmers, of suffragettes (focused on those of Washington State), of activists. This is an album that has a lot to say and that should be heard. (sophiagurley@hotmail.com)

DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2013-09-29 18:41:19.
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